I just am tired of all the whining people are doing about “Oh, he should have chosen a shelter dog. Waah, waah, everyone in America is stupid and incapable of choosing a pet for themselves so they will all do what the President did!” That we all may do research into what breed of dog is best suited for our family and actually go to a responsible breeder. The world would be a better place. Dogs and people would be much happier.

Everyone is so down on any breeder. Some of us out here actually want purebred dogs. Purebred dogs not from a shelter. Purebred dogs whose lineage is known, who fit the breed standard, and who will hopefully turn into decent members of their breed. I don’t have anything against adopting dogs – please, adopt if and when you can. My lab is a wonderful, wonderful animal. Lab through and through – loves water, retrieves anything, loyal to the core. He’s from a shelter. Picked up running stray, he sat in the shelter for six weeks because he is the size of a small pony. As with any adopted dog though, he came with plenty of baggage. Some of it he’s still hanging onto. If I’d gotten him as a puppy, it would have been much, much easier to handle these issues.

It’s one thing to discover a budding dog aggression problem with your puppy and take steps to fix it, it’s quite another to discover at a dog park that your new 100lb friend likes to make unprovoked attacks on any intact male dog. Yippee!

As a parent, I think Obama made the best decision for his daughters. A six month old puppy is not likely to have any issues that can’t be fixed with good training. And yes, yes, he could’ve gotten a puppy from a shelter, and likely would have if his daughters didn’t have allergies. But they do, and their health and safety needs to come first.

So let’s lay off the “only shelter dogs are good dogs” rant because that simply isn’t true. The dog didn’t come from a puppy mill, so there’s that. I simply don’t think anyone, President too, should be harassed about wanting a dog of a certain breed, doing research, and purchasing a puppy that will most likely suit their needs. You live with your dog for a long, long time, it’s better for everyone if it’s a dog you actually enjoy.

Wow, that is ever so cool. The crappy thing is, there really isn’t much I can do. I can email the HOA, but all they’ll do it send a letter and maybe fine him, big woop. I can call animal control, but they don’t care unless the dog has been tied for more than three hours, then it’s illegal. I could try talking to the guy, but I don’t think they speak much English so that could go horribly wrong. And I come off like the bitchy neighbor. Really, all I want is to be able to walk my dogs without being accosted by off leash dogs, or dogs left unsupervised and tied to trees. I am so frustrated with the people that live here. Can you tell? Is it so hard, so hard to respect other people’s rights? And never mind me, what about the seniors in the neighborhood that are so afraid of dogs and are continually getting jumped on and harassed by loose dogs? That just sucks.

My dogs now are never off leash. Not even to go from the car to the house. I won’t risk it. We’ve been attacked here so many times that I am afraid to leave my house. Because other people can’t put their freaking dogs on a leash. People wonder why I’m so pissy.

Weeeelll, the first thing I noticed is that Goody Beagle needs to lose a bit of weight, and nothing bugs me more than a fat dog; so I may have been a bit prejudiced right off the bat. I myself, am not a little person, especially now at 9 months pregnant, but I’ve always battled with my weight so I am sympathetic to my chubby contemporaries. My dogs, however, have NEVER been fat and are always kept in tip top condition. There is NO EXCUSE for having a fat dog! So it irritates me that this entire book is about a fat little beagle’s daily visits to the dog park where somehow she is still not managing to get enough exercise to be in good shape.

The next thing I can’t quite figure out is who in the world is the intended audience for this book? I don’t think it’s appropriate for children – as there is way too much about the “sniff butt” game, pictures of dogs pissing all over, and even a money shot towards the end of a terrier taking a dump. Lovely…. There isn’t really a lesson, so I can’t figure out why you’d want to let your kids read it. Not that all these bodily functions are not part of the reality of owning a dog – but do we really need to see it in photos? I see plenty of dogs going potty, it’s not something I really want to admire in pictures. So, is this for adults maybe? Except that I can’t imagine a grown up wanting to hear about, let alone read about, what another grown up thinks is going on in her dog’s head.

The photography is not the greatest, honestly, given a few hours, I could have gotten pictures of equal or better quality. And I don’t claim to be a professional photographer.

It’s a cute little story, I guess, if you are a regular dog park goer and interested in making up little social dramas of the dog park cliques. Except that none of it is very realistic, and is more of a happy la la version of what people like to think is going on. I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m missing something, but I was really put off by all the photos of dog ass, dogs sniffing each other’s butts, and dogs going to the bathroom. Okay, it’s not a cute little story. It’s an attempt to cash in on America’s love of dogs and our desire to view them as little people in fur coats, which they are not. Best of luck though, I read some other reviews and apparently other folks just thought it was adorable, more power to ya.

I’m sorry that I didn’t love it, and I feel bad knocking someone’s efforts publicly, which is why I put off doing the review for so long. Those are my feelings however, I just can’t recommend this book as anything other than a waste of 10 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back, and surely the terrier pooping will be burned into your retinas for a very long time. Trust me, don’t bother.

Just finished up a two week in board with a boxer puppy, and now have a rescue dog here for two weeks of training. Lucky guy managed to get noticed by someone who was actually willing to pay to send him to school. His name right now is Bear, and he’s a black shepherd type mix with stand up ears and a funny tail. He’s an unbelievably nice dog, very friendly, but a bit socially retarded. And I don’t mean that in a mean way. He’s just way behind. Scared to go in the car, creeps up on light posts and fire hydrants when we go on walks, and everything seems like a new experience for him. He grew up in the country, so I think condo living has him a bit baffled. He’s getting it though, and I think he’ll be a superstar once I’m done with him.

He’s about a year and a half old, and doesn’t know sit. It’s been a long time since I’ve worked with a dog that really had no clue that you can Do Things to Get Treats. We are on day 3 of his training and I’m starting to see some lights start to flicker. I think he will be one of those dogs that once he kind of breaks through that barrier, all the rest will come very easily. So far, we’re working on making eye contact, sitting, and polite leash walking. That’s it. Taking it slow and easy since life is still a bit scary for him.

I’ll post pics as soon as I take some, he’s a cutie, and I’ll keep you posted on his progress.

I wondered if other people noticed. It’s just weird man. Let them walk. They’re DOGS for dog’s sake! They have twice as many legs as we do and they generally enjoy walking!!

And just because I can
HOORAY FOR DOOCE!! That woman rocks!

Vegas really is a culture all it’s own. Within the first 20 minutes, before we had even checked in, I saw some lady vomit into her hand and all over the floor. It was cool. At least my dogs have the courtesy to barf on the easily cleaned kitchen floor.

Friday we slept late and then went and saw the new Beatles Cirque du Soleil, Love. It was an awesome explosion of lights, color, sound, and of course, amazing acrobatics. If you ever get the chance, see it, it’s worth it. Saturday we slept some more – I know, real party animals we are – and then went to see Penn and Teller. That was also a blast. Amazing and so very personable. You just sort of want to hang out with Penn and Teller, and it’s easy to imagine that they must be fun at parties. We sat in the second row, so you feel like you’re part of it. And I was. I was the very first audience member to get drug up on stage that evening, lucky, lucky me.

Penn comes right down to my seat, uh, uh, oh seriously, I make a career out of being a wallflower – he’s not really gonna pick me is he? Oh dammit. The trick involved him taking my glasses – so now I’m on stage in front of like a million or so people, and effectively blind – neato. Some fabulous slight of hand thing with a billiard ball, a sad little magic wand and Teller with a cement box on his head. Somewhere in all the movement, Penn managed to get my glasses over to Teller, and when Penn hammered apart the cement box, my glasses were on Teller. Hmmm, clever, but probably more entertaining to be in the audience. I was brave, very very brave, but a bit confused. If you wear glasses, you’ll know that without them you can’t see, or hear, or move.

It was fun, and I’m glad Josh decided we should go. Over all, thrilled with my Vegas trip. Although we are totally lame, we go there to sleep in, eat at the Pyramid Cafe, and we don’t gamble or drink. We had fun anyway. See, we’re already boring, we’ll be great parents!

Next weekend it’s off to Arizona for a flyball tournament. This doesn’t count as a grown up getaway, because if you take the dogs, you’re not really getting away very far.

It’ll be interesting, he actually responded very well to some distraction techniques and giving him a different job to do when the fan went on. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll keep you updated. Because his mom has a very good relationship with him already, he’s been to obedience class and gets the whole “how to learn” theory, I think his prognosis for learning to not react to these things is good. He’s a very reasonable little dog, which is something I don’t get to see very often.

Also, for those of you who’ve been paying attention, Flash did move on to another foster mom – this one with 15 dogs for him to play with, acreage for him to run till he drops, and swimming pool to practice dock diving in. Last I heard he was in doggie heaven. And my house is finally quiet. Yippee!